A PPC mini is serving as a file server for iTunes, Time Machine, and FrontRow files.
But what about all the families with multiple Macs? I have a new MBP, but with the purchase, the PPC PowerBook went to the grandparents. That's fine for professional users where an investment in a new Mac is an investment your business. If Apple 'only' supports 3.5 year old computers once in their history due to an architecture change, it's not going to be a big deal.
Being able to install the latest OS on 7-10 year old computers is not that unusual for Macs. The Apple II was supported for over a decade after the computer stopped being sold. The computer runs whatever OS it came with until it's time to replace the computer.įurthermore, to claim that Apple has abandoned old hardware throughout their history is absurd. And we almost never upgrade OSs on computers. We routinely replace computers in 3-4 years at our small business and that appears to be typical. The gains in business are recent.įurthermore, you're wrong about 'real enterprises'. There were very few PPC computers in business. Apple's game of abandoning older hardware, something they've been doing their entire history, is going to hold them back big time. Real enterprises use 6 year old hardware and it runs the same OS as their 6 day old hardware. Telling the business world that 3 year old computers are obsolete is an insane move that will further convince CIOs and their IT departments not to take Apple seriously. Īpple is making big steps toward market share in enterprise with the iPhone, Exchange support and push technology.However, I think it will be, as the name implies, an extension of Leopard instead of a full-blown replacement. Judging from Apple's approach to the iPod Touch's SW updates, I could see Apple charging something for SL. I'm not sure how revenue will affect this decision. Furthermore, there would be no surprise when 10.7 debuts as Intel only. Any one who bought a Power Mac during the summer of 06 had to know that they were buying a machine that would have a shorter supported life span than a typical Mac.īy giving 10.6 way, Apple would be able to increase the performance of the newest computers, while not completely ostracizing the PPC folks. From the day that Apple announced the Intel transition, we knew that a day would come when PPC was no longer supported.
The author suggested that Apple might use 10.6 as a lever to move users toward Intel machines exclusively, and would give the update away. I read an article last week, which I can't find now, that opined about Apple's strategy with Snow Leopard.